Circus Agent Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Aliens and Visa Fraud

WASHINGTON – A former acrobatic performer who resides in Orlando, Fla., has
pleaded guilty to charges of inducing aliens to enter the United States
illegally and to making false statements in visa applications, Assistant
Attorney General Alice S. Fisher and U.S. Attorney Paul I. Perez for the Middle
District of Florida announced today.

Kristo Ivanov, 70, entered the plea today before U.S. District Court Judge
Donald P. Dietrich in U.S. District Court in Orlando.

In his plea agreement, Ivanov admitted that from 2001 through February 2006, he
personally helped as many as 870 aliens enter or remain in the United States
through fraudulent means. He prepared visa applications for the aliens that
falsely stated that they were circus performers coming to work in Florida
circuses. In fact, none of the aliens had been hired by any of the circuses
listed in the visa applications. Rather, the visa applications were simply a
means for the aliens to enter or remain in the United States. Ivanov charged
each alien from $500 to $2,500 to prepare the applications.

“Ivanov admits to helping hundreds of illegal aliens into the United States
under false pretenses so that he could benefit financially,” said Assistant
Attorney General Fisher. “We will not allow this type of exploitation of our
immigration system, which poses a risk to the security of our nation.”

“Smuggling aliens into the United States is an insult to those who enter our
country legally,” said U.S. Attorney Paul I. Perez. “Millions of people have
worked long and hard to enter the U.S. legally and become productive citizens.
Those who try to take a shortcut by smuggling, must be stopped.”

Ivanov, a Bulgarian native who is now a naturalized American citizen, came to
the United States in 1980 as an acrobat for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
Circus. He has owned and operated a circus booking agency, Magic Star
Entertainment, of Lake Mary, Fla., for more than five years and used that
agency to fraudulently sponsor aliens to enter or remain in the United States.

As part of his plea agreement, Ivanov agreed to forfeit to the United States
approximately $600,000 he earned in smuggling fees. Sentencing is scheduled
for March 2007.

“Businesses who knowingly sponsor foreign nationals under false pretenses
should know that you will be caught,” said Robert Weber, Special Agent in
Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of
Investigations in Tampa. “The federal government will not tolerate the
exploitation of our nation’s visa system.”

“Visa fraud potentially threatens the national security of the United States.
The U.S. passport and visa are two of the most coveted travel documents in the
world, and foreign nationals who have acquired passports and visas fraudulently
to enter the United States could perpetrate further illegal acts to include
terrorism. These crimes make the United States more vulnerable to terrorism,
plain and simple,” said Joe D. Morton, Director of the U.S. State Department’s
Diplomatic Security Service.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security
Service, ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of
Homeland Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia
Hawkins of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and
Trial Attorney Arlene Reidy of the Domestic Security Section of the Criminal
Division.